Meaning & use
lunch
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A meal eaten around the middle of the day, between breakfast and dinner.
Grammar: No article for the routine meal: 'I had lunch'; use 'a' for a specific occasion: 'a long lunch'.
Patterns
- have lunch
- for lunch
- a business lunch
- out to lunch
We usually have lunch around one o'clock.
She packed a sandwich for lunch.
They discussed the deal over a long business lunch.
verbintransitiveformal
To eat lunch, especially as a planned social or formal occasion.
Grammar: No object; more formal than 'have lunch', common with 'on' or 'with': lunched on salad, lunched with clients.
Patterns
- lunch on something
- lunch with someone
- lunch at somewhere
They lunched with the new director at noon.
We lunched on cold chicken and salad by the river.
Word forms
| plural | lunches |
|---|---|
| third person singular | lunches |
| past tense | lunched |
| past participle | lunched |
| -ing form | lunching |
Common combinations
- have lunch
- Let's have lunch together on Friday.
- business lunch
- The contract was signed during a business lunch.
- pack a lunch
- She packs a lunch for her son every school day.
- lunch break
- I read a chapter during my lunch break.
- out to lunch
- Sorry, the team is out to lunch until two.
Synonyms and how they differ
- luncheon
- A more formal word for lunch, used for organized events rather than a normal meal.
- midday meal
- A plain descriptive phrase; clear but less natural in conversation.
Word family
Commonly confused: lunch or brunch? lunch or luncheon?
lunch vs brunch
Brunch is a late-morning meal combining breakfast and lunch, eaten later than lunch.
lunch vs luncheon
A luncheon is a formal or organized lunch, not an everyday one.
Practice
What did you have ___ lunch today?
Choose one answer.
Use 'for lunch' to name the meal. 'At lunch' means during the lunch period, and 'on' and 'to' do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lunch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.